Apparatus for extracting



Nov. 10,1942. R. B. MCKINNls APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING Filed Deo. l5,1939 .water In` Seed and Water Discharge n inert Gas in Juice ln i JuiceJuice in Discharge Juice In Juice Discharge Patented Nov. 10, 1942APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING lRonald B. McKinnis, Winter Haven, Fla.,assignor to Sunshine Foods Inc., Winter Haven, Fla., a corporation ofFlorida Application December 15, 1939, Serial No. 309,492

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for preventing oxidationof liquids, and more particularly for preventing oxidation of juices offruits `and vegetables by atmospheric oxygen.

This application is directed more particularly to the apparatusdescribed in this application.

In extracting the juice from fruits and vegetables, oxygen of the airstarts processes of oxidation in the juice which eventually will spoilthe taste of the juice and cause deterioration in l the vitamin'content. To obviate this deterioration through oxidation, I have devisedan apparatus employing extraction in an inert atmosphere, and sealing incontainers under nonoxidizing conditions.

The present invention relates to an apparatus which will permitextraction in the open atmosphere yet will prevent the start of thedeleterious oxidation above indicated.

In the instant apparatus, the juice is extracted and then quicklypasses, before oxidation has set in, or before any large quantity ofatmospheric oxygen has become incorporated in the juice, to a purgingstep wherein the juice is subjected to the action of inert gases wherebythe atmospheric oxygen is purged from the juice.

In general, the apparatus consists of a rotary conical member which isforaminous, and which discharges the juice in a stream in a current ofinert gas, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or a mixture of the two, orother inert gases. The inert gases contact the juice in spray form, orin ldroplet form, and purge the atmospheric oxygen from the containedjuice. The juice is gathered in a collection chamber within thecentrifugal apparatus in an atmosphere of inert gas, and from thence canbe sent to containers or cans, where the juice is stored undernon-oxidizing conditions.

It is an object of my invention to devise an apparatus which will permitjuices of fruits and vegetables to be extracted and passed to. storageor canning without deterioration from the action these conditions.

' Other objects will be apparent from the ensuing description whichshows a simple form of apparatus which is cheap to construct andinexpensive to operate.

In the drawing:

-Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the purgingapparatus;

Fig. 2 is a view taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown a base casting I which is formedinto a juice catching chamber 2 at its lower part and is formed with aseed catching chamber 3 at its upper end. The seed catching chamber isprovided with a lid 4 which has a. rim 5 that lies adjacent a flange 6formed on the seed catching chamber of the main casting. Between the rim5 and flange 6 is a iiuid tight packing l. The lid 4 may be attached bya series of bolts B.

Inert gas is admitted into my centrifuge at the lower part thereofthrough an inert gas inlet line 9, which, through a suitable packingjoint I0, is attached to a screw-threaded nipple II formed in thebase I.The nipple I I is provided with an interior central aperture I2 whichcommunicates with a gas chamber I3. The gas chamber I3 is provided withapertures I4 which conduct the gas, as indicated by the arrows in Fig.1, into the juice catching chamber 2.

Mounted in the juice catching chamber 2 is a rotating centrifugalconical element, indicated generally by the numeral I5, which comprisesa tapered sleeve I6 mounted on a base Il. The base I1 is provided at itslower end with a ball race IB, which lies adjacent to a ball raceu I9formed in an annular projection 20 of the base I. Between the ball racesI8 and I9 are a series of ball bearings 2I. Thus the conical member I6is mounted for rotation on the base I.

Through a central aperture 22 formed in the base Il is'adapted to extendan inlet nozzle 23 which has a flanged top 24. The inlet nozzle 23 fitswithin an aperture 25 formed in the base l. The base I is provided witha juice inlet aperture 26 which through a iiuid tight connection 21 isconnected to a juice inlet pipe 28. Mounted above the flange 24 of thenozzle 23 is a spreader plate 29 which is held spaced from the anged top24 by means of suitable spacers 30.

The arrangement of the nozzle is such that juice passing through thejuice inlet pipe 28 and juice aperture 26 is discharged by the nozzleagainst the plate 29 and spread out in disc form where it impinges onthe interior of the rotating conical element I5.

The rotating conical element I5 is provided with apertures 3l so thatthe juice discharged against its inner surface, in its passage up fromthe small end of the conical element Ii to the larger end, will bethrown out in spray form through the apertures into the juice catchingchamber 2 surrounding the conical element I5. The direction of the flowof juice is indicated in dotted arrows in Fig. 2. The direction of flowof the inert gas, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, a mixture of thetwo, or other inert gas, is indicated by the solid arrows.

Formed on the larger open end of the conical rotating element |5 is aflange 32 which is attached to and heldin spaced relation from a drivingdisc 33 by means of spacers 34 and bolts 35.

The drive disc 33 is attached to a hollow spindle 36 which is journaledin a ball bearing joint, indicated generally by the numeral 40, with'the interior of the hollow spindle 36 is an inert gas outlet pipe 4Iwhich is supported on a bracket 42 carried bythe lid 4. pipe 4| is heldbetween arms 43 on the bracket 42, the arms being held together by meansof bolts 44.

Water is supplied to the seed collecting chamber 3 of the body castingby means of a nipple 45 which, through a fluid tight joint indicatedgenerally by the numeral 46, communicates with a water inlet pipe 41.

The inert gas outlet' Between the seed collecting chamber 3 and thejuice collecting chamber 2 is an upwardly sloping baille wall 48 whichprevents splashingof the juice from the juice collecting chamber 2 intothe seed collecting chamber. Theseed collecting chamber is provided witha water seal 49 through which the seeds and water from the chamber aredischarged into the atmosphere. This water seal comprises a downwardlyprojecting section 50 of the wall of the seed collecting chamber 3,whose lower end lies below the surface 5| of water in a bowl 52. Theseeds and water are discharged through a chute 53 formed in the seedcollecting chamber 3, into the bowl 52, and the seeds and water thenpass over a seed and waterdischarge chute 54. The arrangement is suchthat seeds discharged from the top of the rotating member I5 will fallinto the seed collecting chamber 3 and be swept out of that chamber by,a stream of water entering 'the chamber through a nozzle 45. This waterand the seeds and larger particles will pass down,

through the chute 53 into the bowl 52 and the seeds, water and largeparticles will be discharged out of the apparatus over the dischargechute 54.

Juice is adapted to be discharged from the bottom of the juicecollecting chamber 2 through a nipple 55 connected through a fluid tightjoint, indicated generally by the numeral 56, to a juice discharge 51.

In operation the juice soon after the extracting operation in the openatmosphere is passed through juice inlet pipe 28 and passes throughthejuice nozzle 23. The plate 29 deilects the juice to the base of theinner surface of the rotating conical member I5 and the juice rests onthe interior wall of the conical member I5 by reason of centrifugalforce. and because of the conical shape of the member l5. The juice issprayed out in the form of spray or droplets' through the apertures 3lformed in the sleeve I6. Inert gas enters the gas manifold I3 throughinert gas pipe 9 and is discharged through apertures I4, as indicated bythe arrows, into the juice catching chamber, and iiows through thesprays or droplets of juice, as indicated, and passes out over thebaille 48 and into the rotating spindle 36, and from thence into theinert gas discharge line 4I.

The 'atmospheric oxygen in the juice is purged out of the juice duringthis operation and the juice which is collected in the bottom of thejuice chamber 2 is discharged through the juice discharge line 51. Thelarger particles of the pulp and the seeds are discharged over theflange 32 formed on the top of the rotating conical element I5 intotheseed collecting chamber 3 where, as before described,l the wateradmitted through the pipe 41 causes the seeds and larger particles tovbe swept down through the water seal 49 and out of the apparatus. v

In a typical operation the oranges, grapefruit, or other fruits orvegetables, are subjected to a rapid extraction in order to minimizeoxidation. After this rapid extraction the juice is passed immediatelyto the closed centrifuge, just above described, where the juice andseeds are separated. The juice is subjected to the purging action of thecentrifuge apparatus in which inert gas flows through the spray ordroplets discharged through the apertures 3| in the rotating conicalelement I 5. The seeds and large particles of pulp are passed by reasonof the centrifugal action out of the top of the rotating element I5 intothe seed discharge chamber and are discharged out of the apparatusthrough a water seal. This water seal prevents the access of oxygen fromthe atmos-v phere into the interior of the centrifuge apparatus.

It is to be noted that the inert gas moves in a stream continuouslythrough the centrifuge to purge the juice containing the oxygen. Thejuice from the juice collecting chamber 2 of the centrifuge may bepassed to a flash pasteurization step and` thence to containers, suchaslarge storage containers, or to cans. The liash pasteurization stepmay be omitted, and the pasteurization may occur after the juice hasbeen admitted to the containers or cans.

In a typical operation the juice may be lled into cans which have beenpre-heated to a temperature above the condensation point of steam so asto prevent condensation, the cans are then filled with live steam bymeans of a steam jet, and the juice then lld in the cans under a blanketof the steam, the juice entering from the bottom of the cans, the speedof lling being regulated so that a turbulence of the juice in the canswill not cause the blanket of protecting steam to be broken to permitobjectionable contamination of the juice by the oxygen of theatmosphere. The cans having been filled, they may be quickly sealed'toprevent any oxidation of the contents.

Where iiash pasteurization has been employed prior to lling thecontainers or cans, it will be unnecessary to subject the juice to a.further pasteurization step. Where 4no ash pasteurization in these largecontainers if desired.

It will be noted that my process and apparatus contentrthan is the casewith ordinary canning operations.

I desire that my invention be limited only by the showing of the priorart and the scope oi the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for purging atmospheric oxy- 'gen from fruit andvegetable juices comprising a source of juice, a foraminousmember,-means to force the juice through the foraminous member, a seedcollecting chamber adjacent to the upper end of the foraminous member, asource of inert purging gas, means to cause relative movement betweenthe juice after psage' through the foraminous member and the inertpurging gas, and additional means to prevent the access of ongen intosaid seed collecting chamber.

2. An apparatus for purging atmospheric oxygen from fruit and vegetablejuices comprising a source of juice, a foraminous member, means to forcethe juice through the foraminous member, a juice collecting chamberadapted to be filled with inert gas. a seed collecting chamber adjacentto the upper end of the foraminous nember, a source of inert purginggas, means to cause relative movement between the juice after passagethrough the foraminous member and the inert purging gas,`and additionalmeans to prevent the access of oxygen into the seed collecting chamber.

3. An apparatus for purging atmospheric oxygen from fruit and vegetablejuices comprising a source of juice, a rotating member with aperturestherein through which apertures the juice is thrown by centrifugalforce, a seed collecting chamber adjacent to the upper end of theforaminous member, a source ot inert gas for purging.

mea-ns to cause relative movement between the juice after passagethrough the rotating member and the inert purging gas, and a water sealthrough which the seeds are adapted to pass in communication with theseed collecting chamber, said seal preventing access of oxygen to theseed collecting chamber.

4. An apparatus for purging atmospheric oxygen from fruit and vegetablejuices comprising a `source of juice, a rotating member with aperturestherein through which apertures the juice is thrown by centrifugalforce, a juice collecting chamber adapted to be illled with inert gas, aseed collecting chamber adjacent to the upper end of the foraminousmember, a source of inert gas for purging, means to cause relativemovement between the juice after passage through the rotating member andthe inert purging gas, and a water seal through which the seeds areadapted to pass in communication with the seed collecting chamber, saidseal preventing access of oxygen to the seed collecting chamber.

5. A device for .purging oxygen from juice comprising a juice collectingchamber, a source o! inert gas from which gas ilows through the juicecollecting chamber, a foraminous inverted frustoconical basket on whoseinner surface the juice is adapted to spread in a'film and be throwninto the juice collectingchamber through the apertures, a seedcollecting chamber adjacent to the upper end of the foraminous memberinto which seeds are thrown from the upper end of the basket, and meanspreventing access of oxygen to the seed collecting chamber.

6. A-device for purging oxygen from juice comprising a juice collectingchamber, a source of inert gas from which gas ilows through the juicecollecting chamber, a foraminous inverted frustoconical basket on whoseinner surface the juice is adapted to spread in a iilm and be thrownthrough the apertures into the juice collecting chamber, a seedcollecting chamber adjacent to the upper end of the foraminous memberinto which seeds are thrown from the larger end of the tapered member,and a water seal through which the seeds are discharged from the seedcollecting chamber, said water seal preventing access of oxygen to theseed collecting chamber.

, RONALD B. MCKINNIS.

